


Stars in their eyes

by happierhere



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Friendship, Goodbyes, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Pre-Relationship, adopting a kitten, nardole (mentioned) - Freeform, oblivious Yaz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 22:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17272529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happierhere/pseuds/happierhere
Summary: The Doctor gets a chance to say goodbye to Bill.Yaz has a conversation with Heather.And there's a kitten.





	Stars in their eyes

**Author's Note:**

> In the novelisation of "Twice Upon a Time" Bill's story gets explained. Some travel in the Milky Way and then growing old together. While I like the idea of Bill's happy ending being gay married (she would like that, wouldn't she), I doubt their travels would stop at the Milky Way. I also realized we never gotten to know Heather that well.   
> This is my attempt. Besides. The Doctor deserves saying goodbye.

**Stars in their eyes**

 

The Tardis stood at their usual meeting point. After all this time, Yaz’s heart still skipped a beat when she lay eyes on it. To everyone else, it may just look like simple blue box, but it was so much more.  

With a quick knock, the door opened for her. The Doctor wasn’t there to greet her, but stood at the console, pouting at the smartphone Yaz and Ryan had bought for her. Yaz lingered at the doorway for a moment, taking time to thank the Tardis to let her in. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the whole sentient-spaceship thing. But it never hurt to be polite.

“Lost at candy crush again?” Yaz teased the Doctor, when she realised her friend hadn’t noticed her.

“Hiya Yaz!” The Doctor cheered up. “Graham just called to let me know Ryan had a little incident at work.” The pout returned.

“Is he ok?” Yaz’ own mood shifting from playful to worried in a second.

“Yes, he’s fine. One of the machines malfunctioned and his hand got stuck for a moment. Two fingers are sprained and bruised, but nothing is broken.”

Yaz winced in sympathy. That sounded painful.

“I offered to bring him to a 25th century hospital, to take care of in a jiffy.” A pause.  “No, not saying that again. But he’s meeting with Health and Safety tomorrow and apparently it would look suspicious if his injuries disappeared overnight.”

That sounded fair. She could understand the Doctor’s  unwillingness to let Ryan suffer, though.

“So we’ll heal him in a few days.” The Doctor concluded. “Where do you want to go?”

Yaz hesitated. It felt a bit wrong to travel without her friends. Although she like the idea to get some one-on-one time to get to know the Doctor a bit better. What to do?  

“Maybe we should buy Ryan a get-well-gift?” She suggested.

 

 

+++

 

 

Her idea had been a hit. The Doctor had brought them to _Bob’s shop of Thingamabobs_ , on Luna. Which was a quaint little shop with all kinds of second hand items from random civilizations. Off course she could find a proper gift for Ryan here. And of course she had lost the Doctor five minutes somewhere around the second aisle.

When she had chosen a gadget in the form of an mermaid thingy with tentacles – like an a creepy alien Ursula from the Little Mermaid movie – that danced to music, it turned out she could pay in pounds. As she marvelled at the exchange rate chart, which reminded her of the flashing screens she saw in Wall Street movies, Bob started to flirt with her.

Bob by the way was a blue skinned alien with a red Mohawk. Two of his four arms were busy wrapping Ryan’s gift in what vaguely resembled Christmas wrapping paper. He eventually told her to take the electric guitar they had used to test the gadget before.

Even though she tried to refuse – the gift hadn’t been that expensive, but the guitar looked like it was – Bob had insisted, telling her that she was the only one who had ever gotten sound out of the blasted thing that didn’t sound like a _Bladthorp_ in heat. She sincerely hoped that a _Bladthorp_ was some kind of animal.

With no Doctor around to save her, she dropped a few extra notes on the counter and left the store, before he could offer other gifts. Like his phone number.

His compliments were a  rather poor assessment honestly. She could barely string a few chords together. Her ex-boyfriend  had taught her exactly one song. And it was a Taylor Swift song.

Still. Seeing that the Doctor would probably wouldn’t show up for a long while, Yaz decided it would help kill some time. She found a bench near to the shop, so she could keep an eye on the door.

How did it go again? _Am. G. C._ No that didn’t sound right. _Am. C. G._ And again.

Confident she had the rhythm right, she started to sing sotto voce.

_Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play_

_And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate baby_

_I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake_

_Shake it off, I shake it off_

_Heart breakers gonna break, break, break, break, break_

_And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake baby_

_I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake_

_Shake it off, I shake it off_

 

It didn’t sound to awful, so she repeated the song. As she concentrated on the notes, she didn’t notice the Doctor until she dropped her baggy full of scrap metal to applaud. At least Yaz hoped it was scrap metal. It would be now.  

“Brilliant, Yaz! You’re a natural!”

She made a grabby hands gesture towards the instrument, whilst dropping herself next to Yaz. Glad the attention was no longer focused on her, Yaz – cheeks now red - gladly handed the guitar to her friend. Who promptly coached the first notes from a classical song that sounded vaguely familiar of it.

And then pouted at her hands, claiming them to be “New fingers. I used to be better at this. No matter what Bill said.”

_Bill?_ She hadn’t heard that name before. The Doctor was always namedropping. It was all Donna met Agatha Cristie and Shakespeare couldn’t stop flirting with Martha. But when asked further questions, the Doctor always changed the subject.

Yaz had always been curious. She considered it her best trait. And she was rather good at getting people to tell her the truth. It couldn’t hurt to try one more time, right?

“Who was Bill, Doctor?”

“Bill? Bill was brilliant. We should get back to the Tardis.”  She – seemingly absentmindedly – handed the guitar back to Yaz. But the younger woman was not fooled. They had plenty of time to get back to Ryan.

“Did he travel with you?”

A long silence. She could almost hear the Doctor trying to think her way out of the conversation. Then a sigh.

“ _She_ did. She was a student, back when I was teaching at University. Well, I say student. She worked in the canteen, but she was easily the smarter person in every room there.”

“Except for you.” Yaz nudged her shoulder slightly. She couldn’t imagine anyone smarter than the Doctor.

“Obvs.”

Yaz rolled her eyes. She walked into that one. “Tell us about her?”

The Doctor launched into a longwinded story, about giant fish in the Thames, about meeting the Martian Queen and about telling of an entire legion of Romans. Bill sounded properly amazing. Yaz could only hope the Doctor would share the same kind of stories about her later.

And then Yaz realised that Miss Knowles from primary school had been right all along. Yaz was too curious for her own good. Because now she couldn’t not ask…

“What happened to her?”

It was as if she had flipped a switch somewhere in the  Doctor’s mind. The other woman visibly deflated. Yaz felt a pang of guilt. She shouldn’t have asked and wanted to tell the Doctor she didn’t have to answer. But then she did.

“She got hurt. And I couldn’t get to her. She waited years for me to come rescue her. And I couldn’t.”

Yaz filled in the dots herself. “She died?”

“No. At least I don’t think so. I wasn’t actually conscious for the last bit. But someone saved her. Someone who loved her. She’s still out there, somewhere. They both are, with the smell of the wind in their clothes.”

A sad smile. A single tear on the Doctor’s cheek.

“I’m sorry.” She offered the Doctor a handkerchief. The older woman accepted and promptly looked confused at it.

“You’re crying.” Yaz prompted.

“No I’m not.” She dabbed her cheek nonetheless on the spot that Yaz indicated. Strangely, the teardrop did not dissolve into the fabric, but rested on top of it. Before Yaz could wonder about it, the Doctor look went from puzzled to ecstatic. She exclaimed “Brilliant” and ran off to the Tardis.

Yaz had the presence of mind to grab her present, the guitar and the Doctor’s discarded bag before hurrying after her. She barely entered the Tardis, when she saw the Doctor insert her handkerchief into a previously never revealed hatch in the console. She then pulled a lever, and the Tardis jeered into action.  

 

 

+++

 

 

The Tardis landed with a crash. The Doctor bounded out the door, not even checking to see if Yaz was fine. Confused, and a little hurt, Yaz decided to follow.

As the Doctor usually like to show off by identifying their destination by smelling the air or tasting the soil, Yaz felt more than a little lost. Keeping a cool head, she took in her surroundings. Trees, the normal kind. Were they on Earth? Waving about the sonic screwdriver the Doctor seemed to have chosen her destination. And ran off.  With a sigh Yaz followed suit.

A small village. Cottage style houses. A woman taking out a trash bag stared at them, eyebrow raised high. Definitely Earth than. Probably Britain. Present time.

As a child on a hoover board zoomed past, Yaz amended her assessment to the near future.  

Distracted by the technology, Yaz failed to notice that the Doctor had stopped. And ran straight into her, almost toppling both of them to the street. She blushed and hoped nobody had seen that. The Doctor however didn’t seem to mind. 

“We’re here.” She whispered. 

“Where?” Yaz asked.

The Doctor grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the door of the nearest house. She knocked, and started to straighten her clothing. She even ran her hand through her blonde locks. Yaz couldn’t help but stare at this. The Doctor never cared for her appearance before.

A moment later the door opened, revealing an elderly black woman. Yaz guessed she was in her eighties or nineties. The older woman gave both of them a one-over, before cracking a large grin and hugging the Doctor close with an enthusiastic “Doctor!”

A few moments passed, before the Doctor piped up introducing both women to each other.

“Bill this is Yaz. Yaz, this is Bill.”

Before Yaz could even extend her hand in a greeting, the Doctor realised something.

“How did you know it was me?” She asked.

Bill smiled. “Not many people could rock that outfit. Love the rainbow, by the way. And besides, you still run like a penguin with her ass on fire.”

Yaz felt the blush returning. Bill had seen their awkward crash then.

Another voice spoke up. “And the Tardis let me know the moment you arrived.”

“Heather!” The Doctor leaped over the doorstep to engulf the other woman in a hug. It was evident the elderly lady had not expected that. She gave the Doctor a small pat on her back and untangled herself from her arms.

“By the way, she asked if you could take a look on the seventeenth deck. Something about an oil leak.”

“Yaz! Come in and meet Heather! She’s Bill’s girlfriend…”

“Wife.” Bill corrected with a wink.

“Wife! And she’s part spaceship!”

Part spaceship? Yeah, she was going to unpack that later. First things first. With an apologetic smile to Bill – she was entering her house without her permission after all – she went to stand at the Doctor’s side.

Heather seemed to have recollected herself. “Full spaceship, thank you very much.” Her form shimmered for a moment, turning herself translucent, like water. In a blink it was over, and Heather was herself again. Or her other shape again, Yaz figured. Again, she was going to unpack all that later. Water though…

“The tear was your message.” She suddenly realised.

The Doctor beamed at her. _Ten points to Yaz_ , Yaz thought a little smugly.

Heather simply nodded. Now she was standing closer, Yaz could see the old woman had a star in her eye. Was that a part of being a spaceship?

She was pulled out of her musing by Bill’s enthusiastic outburst.

“Oh, I’ve got so much to tell you!”

The Doctor focused her megawatt smile from Yaz to Bill. She was basically trembling in excitement, Yaz noticed. She suddenly felt like an intruder. In an attempt to give both women some semblance of privacy she studied the framed photographs that decorated the hallway. Most of them featured one or two of the women, in stages of their lives, in exotic locations. She recognised the Great Wall of China, the Great Pyramid, Angkor Watt, … One picture caught her attention. It was just the two of them, in their thirties, maybe forties, smiling at each other. Even though none of them was wearing white and no rings were visible in the frame, Yaz just knew it was their wedding picture.

“51 years and counting.” Heather confirmed, startling Yaz by putting her hand on her shoulder. It looked suitably wrinkly, but Yaz had by now realised that looks could be deceiving.

“Why don’t I show you our garden? Let them catch up.”

It was the right thing to do. So why did she feel so much reluctance? They’d split up during missions before? Why would a simple visit be any different? She was safe here, she trusted the Doctor’s judgement without reservation. If she trusted Bill and Heather, so could Yaz.

She followed Heather to the kitchen, giving a wave to the Doctor, who simply gave her a thumbs up in response. The older woman asked if she wanted a snack, but didn’t really wait for her response, before producing a tray. In a brisk pace she poured two glasses with what looked like home-made lemonade and filled a plate with an assortment of cookies. It all reminded it so much of her Nani, that her heart ached with homesickness. Maybe she should ask the Doctor for a quick visit to Sheffield. Even though she knew the other woman was neither old nor frail, she offered to carry the tray nevertheless.

The garden was beautiful, haphazardly filled with exotic flowers and vegetable patches. It stood in a stark contrast with the neighbouring gardens who were much more proper. And were being tended to by robotic gardeners. Right, they were in the future.

“Bill never liked robots. So we tend to the garden ourselves.” Heather offered, as though apologising.

“It’s brilliant.” Yaz assured her. “I love the flowers.”

They spent some time sipping their drinks, Heather talking about their unordinary garden. A small ginger kitten made itself known by mewling until the older woman picked him up and put him on her lap. Not content to stay there, it jumped up on the table and inched closer to Yaz. With curious eyes, it took her in. Gently Yaz extended her hand, letting the kitten smell her hand. With a meow of approval, the kitten rubbed its head on her hand, her arm and then promptly dropped himself on her lap. Purring. Cajoling her into petting him.

“Dole.” Heather chastised him indulgently. “Forgive him, he’s quite the ladies’ man.”

Focus now on the kitten, Yaz didn’t realise until too late she had let her defences down. She blurted out the question that had been on the tip of her tongue the entire time. “When did you meet the Doctor?”

“I actually never met the Doctor.” Heather admitted. “I was in his class for a while, before I died. I was uploaded to this form. It took me a while before I overcame the basic programming, so the Doctor thought I was trying to kill Bill. Or stalk her.”

Heather winced. “I did follow them to the end of the Universe. So I couldn’t exactly blame him. Now I’m in control.” She proved this to Yaz by turning her hand into water again for a second. If she had blinked, she would have missed it.

 “So this was the first time you’ve met?”

Heather nodded. “I’ve seen him before though, before I met up with Bill again. When you spend a few centuries exploring all time and space, you can’t help but cross paths with the Doctor,  you know. That man gets around.” She paused for a minute. “I should say woman now, I guess. I never expected a female incarnation, though. Maybe I met one of hers before without realising it. Don’t tell Bill. She’ll call me a bad feminist.” She added conspiratorially, with a wink.

Yaz answered with a smile, but her mind was still stuck on _centuries._ How old was Heather?

 “Is Bill..” _immortal…_ “a spaceship too?” She asked instead.

“She was for a while. We travelled together after I found her again. We saw things no one… well, most people couldn’t even imagine. And then one day she asked me to grow old with her.”

“So you made her human again?” Yaz surmised. And changed her own appearance accordingly, aging herself year by year. What a sacrifice.

“It may seem weird to you, but these years together here in our little cottage? They mean everything to me.” With a wistful smile, Heather stared at the rim of the glass she was holding. “If I could exchange all those decades of travelling, for a few more hours of being here with her, I would.”

Yaz realised that this was no ordinary visit, not just passing by to say hello. This was goodbye.

“Bill is dying, isn’t she?” She winced. She had been spending too much time with the Doctor and her tact was suffering.

Thankfully Heather didn’t seem to take offence, but offered her a warm smile. “You are a clever one, aren’t you. Figures, the Doctor wouldn’t have picked you to travel with her otherwise.”

There was a lot to unpack in that sentence. An offer to give her a little more insight in the Doctor. Yaz would have gladly learned more. But she recognized a diversion tactic when she saw one. So she swallowed her curiosity and simply waited patiently for the other woman to break the silence. She gently petted the sleepy kitten on her lap.

“Yes. She had cancer. The doctors told her she has a few months to live.”

“I’m sorry.” It was a platitude. But it was all Yaz had to offer. Now Heather had started opening up, the entire story poured from her.  

“She refuses to let me transform her again. All good stories must end someday, she says. She’s said her goodbyes to our friends. The Doctor was the last on the list.”

Yaz, very gently to not disturb the kitten, leaned closer to the older woman and put a hand on her arm.

“She asked me to bring her to a black hole. One last adventure for her.”

Yaz let out a nervous laugh. Heather echoed hers. “She has always been a tad melodramatic.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Bill asked me to start travelling again.”

“I didn’t ask what Bill wants you to do.” Yaz pushed. She was doing a lot of pushing that day. Maybe she should stop.  

“The universe is wonderful, it really is. But nobody is meant to travel it alone.”

Yaz struggled to find words to console her, to reason with her, but found she had none.

“The Doctor knows it too.” Heather continued. “I never saw him travel alone. He… she must have a really big heart to love and loose so many times over.”

Without thinking Yaz spoke: “She has two hearts actually.” She winced. What an utterly daft thing to say.

It made Heather laugh though. And in turn Yaz started giggling too, disturbing the kitten on her lap. With an affronted meow, it left her lap and toddled off towards the kitchen. Yaz had seen a cat flap in the door. The little guy would be fine.

Wiping her eyes with a handkerchief, Heather smiled before sobering again.

“Well, I’ve only got the one. And I gave it to Bill a long time ago.”

Yaz returned the smile. Even though she had only met both women, she knew she would be mourning them. She wished she had the right words to say. That she could convince Heather to listen to Bill. But she realised it would be like convincing the sea to flow upstream back into the mountain. Pointless.

The next few minutes were spent in a comfortable silence. Enjoying each other’s company and the garden. Yaz drained her glass. The lemonade was refreshing. A tad sour from the lemon, and not too sugary. The Doctor would probably hate it.

Yaz’s eyes flickered towards the house. How was the Doctor coping with this news? She hadn’t know the other woman that long, but she knew the Doctor and heavy emotions weren’t exactly the best of friends.

Heather spoke again. “You know, I have seen the Doctor with a lot of friends. I don’t doubt she loves and loved each of them.”

Yaz nodded her agreement. Even the most hardened cynic could see how much the Doctor enjoyed being in hers, Ryan’s and Graham’s presence. Her _fam_ as she liked the call them.

“And then there are those who are special to her…”

Yaz nodded. And looked once more towards the house. “Like Bill.”

Heather laughed again. Yaz had the feeling she was laughing with her, but it wasn’t malicious. More good-naturedly, like a grandmother laughing at something her granddaughter said. She really missed her Nan.

“No, not like Bill. I mean a different kind of love.”

And with a wistful smile she added. “It doesn’t matter. You’ve still got all the time in the world to figure all this out.”

She gathered the platter with the now empty glasses and still full plate of biscuits. “Let’s see if Bill and the Doctor are ok.”

Yaz followed, caught up in her own thoughts for a minute.

 

 

+++

 

 

The other two had retreated into the kitchen, hands around a cup of tea. Even though the Doctor was a time travelling alien, she was quite British at times, Yaz thought.

“Ooh, biscuits.” Said alien cooed.

British and an actual child, Yaz amended in her mind.

Heather indulged her and put the plate on their table. Yaz took the moment to observe her friend. Eyes red rimmed, body language quite tense, eyes on Bill’s every move as if she could disappear any minute. She had heard the news then.

A tiny meow distracted her. As she had predicted, the kitten had found his way inside. And had probably climbed the Doctor like a tree, to where he was now perched in the hood of her jacket. He was calling to her, probably demanding more pats.

Yaz obeyed and gratefully took the opportunity to slide her other hand over to the Doctor’s arm and give her biceps a soft squeeze. Her friend first tensed, and then leaned in into the touch.

“Hi little guy.” She told the kitten.

“Oh, you’ve met Nardole!” Bill exclaimed.

“Nardole?!”

Yaz was pretty sure if she hadn’t been holding the Doctor’s arm, she would have jumped right out of the chair.

“He was a chubby little ginger kitten. It seemed appropriate.” Bill hid her smirk behind her cup of tea. “Besides, he probably named a goat after me.”

“And a cow after me.” The Doctor added with a smile. They locked eyes and seemed to be in their own little world. Yaz could only guess they were remembering an old friend.

“He’s actually the other reason why we invited you today, Doctor.” Heather added. “After we… _leave_ someone needs to care for him.”

“Not that he needs much.” Bill added. “Food, a lot of attention. Real bloke, that guy.”

The Doctor started to argue. Yaz was on the fence as well. A kitten on the Tardis seemed like a really bad idea. Besides, the Doctor often forgot to feed herself, let alone her friends, a little voice in her head sounding like Graham added.

“The Tardis doesn’t mind.” Heather added. “She also asked me to let you know that she already – and I’m just repeating this here - _‘Kerblammed’_ the parts you need to make an automatic litter box.” The elder woman looked confused.

Realising that the brunt of the work of taking care of the kitten wouldn’t fall to her or Graham, Yaz was all aboard. She always had wanted a pet! She gently picked up the kitten from his nest in the Doctor’s hood.

“C’mon Doctor. Can you say no to this face?” She used her finger to wave a tiny kitty paw at her friend. Using her best pout, just in case.

“Aarhg!” The Doctor exclaimed. “How can I say no when all my favourite ladies are ganging up on me!”

Yaz blushed. She was talking about Bill and the Tardis, she told herself. Still, success!

 

 

+++

 

 

 

Goodbye had hit the Doctor hard, Yaz realised. On their trek back to the Tardis, now carrying a kitten in a carrier and some supplies, the Doctor kept on cheerfully listing all the items they should buy for little Nardole. But Yaz had seen her wiping away tears after her and Bill’s long hug goodbye and knew she was only putting on a brave front. Maybe it would have fooled her during their first months of travelling, but she knew the Doctor was much more affected than she let on.

Having to say goodbye to friends was horrible, whether it was due to sickness, moving away or bullying. She realised that the Doctor would refuse to talk to her about today if she asked. Yaz doubted it was even her place to ask. She had pushed and prodded enough that day.  

Besides. What could she even say?

No, she was going to have to help the Doctor mourn in another way. She thought back to her own childhood, when Sonya, who had been too young to understand why she was so upset, had helped her get through her year of hell in her own way.

“Doctor, after we get Nardole all settled in, how about we watch a movie?”

The Doctor was quiet for a while. “Have you seen Frozen?” She asked.

Yaz was surprised. She hadn’t pegged the Doctor for a Disney fan. But she was going to let the other woman choose the film anyway. She’d even suffer through a horror movie for her, Yaz realized. Animation was a way better option.

“Sure. But only if you obey the Khan Family rule. Disney equals warm blankets and hot chocolate.”

There was no such rule. But it seemed like a good idea to pamper the Doctor for a little while.

The Doctor laughed and agreed.

She was going to be ok, Yaz realised. She just needed some time. 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
